. THE 'SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK
It was reassuring that, when the North American Air Defence Command, one of its clerks having fed the wrong bit of tape into a telex machine (which is a thing I have done more than once), erroneously endeavoured to alert the entire civilian population of the United States that a state of emergency ex- isted and that the President would shortly address the nation, hardly anyone took any notice. Apart from the woman in Chicago who was 'absolutely terrified. It was so authentic I just knew we were at war', the great American public behaved with notable calm, not to say indifference.
The ludicrous incident justified that grow- ing confidence I have felt since the Cuban missile crisis that we will know in advance that a critical point is being reached, that international relations are becoming dangerously fevered, and that people will have some time in which to get used to the idea. Since there was no such feverish con- dition last weekend the wrong bit of tape did not matter. But then I am led into the reflec- tion that, if this had happened in the middle of the Cuban missile crisis or in the middle of some Middle Eastern or Berlin crisis, the Wrong bit of tape fed into the machine could have mattered a lot. And, having thus reflected, I am far from reassured.
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